Consumer Reports: Google Home Max and Sonos One Sound Better Than HomePod

[racerhomie]

As an owner of a HomePod... but not an owner of any google or sonos products... but an owner of large speakers with sub woofer; I'd say... HomePod is good but not amazing. Definitely lacks in the mid tones.

Yeah, thats why stereo update is coming soon.
But that does not still make the Homepod inferior to Home Max.The Max literally distorts the sound like a cheap speaker.

 

[HylianKnight]

Of all the criticism I read of the HomePod, both before and after the release, sound quality was not one of them. Nobody seriously doubted this thing wasn't going to sound awesome for its size.

However, sound is physics, and other than having massive powerful amps and big speakers, the only way around the physical limitation of having a small speaker is by faking it with DSP and other tricks. The same tricks used by Sonos and everybody else.

I think the HomePod haters mainly hate the pickle Apple is putting them in, as fans. On one hand, they are Apply fans and want to own Apple hardware; if Apple makes a speaker they want that speaker. On the other hand, Apple has never been good with cloud or subscription services, so many many Apple fans subscribe to non-Apple services. By making the speaker only work with Apple's own music subscription service, they are forcing fans of Apple to choose between having Apple hardware or using the service they have been using and like.

Locking down the HomePod away from any third party services isn't just the walled-garden approach - it downright hostile. Imagine if tvOS only worked with iTunes and Apple refused to allow Netflix or Hulu, or if iOS only worked with Apple mail and refused to allow Gmail or Exchange. The same anger would come from Apple fans being forced to choose.

Fair point.

 

[scotth23]

It's quite possible that the dead "midrange" that CR mentions is because HomePod can't take advantage of any of those processes in their non-reflective environments.

If CR got a dead midrange in their testing room that was setup in a similar fashion to Apple’s setup, wouldn’t it stand to reason that Apple would have also gotten a result somewhat similar to that?

And wouldn’t it also stand to reason that, if this speaker is supposed to compensate for these anamolies, that they would then program for that situation as well?

I’m just a bit surprised that many people think that Apple would have programmed this speaker to ONLY adjust to reflected sound from thousands of scenarios but wouldn’t compensate for the one scenario they tested in extensively. It would seem to me the point of the testing scenario was to tune and learn to control the speakers sound and then apply what they learned in real room scenarios.

 

[thewogster]

iMac Pro isn’t twice as expensive, don’t know where you’re getting that idea.

Also, you’re pretending benchmarks reign supreme when buying a computer. Screen quality, OS quality, basic look and feel, are all subjective reasons to want a certain computer. If you want a computer that just handles video rendering? The iMac Pro with a Final Cut Pro X is probably faster than a Windows computer running Adobe.

Yeah, I remember when I was in my teen's and was really into car audio. Spec wise, the radio shack speakers toped a lot of the other big brands, but in reality they just didn't have the same feel. Spec's and benchmarks aren't apples to apples, LOL - no pun inted

good post I am too lazy to compare them I would have to separate the sonos ones to do it. my wife agrees with you the sonos 5's blow it away. but she has some well rate floor standing speakers that only cost around 600 or 900 with the sub that blow away the sonos 5 pair with the sub at about 1/2 the price if you don't include the sonos amp. the home pod keeps having siri issues where it won't respond any all.

Enunciation maybe? The only time I have issues, is if it's been quite a while since I've said "Hey Siri" and she seems sleepy or i've been drunk and slur hery slury... My wife has even commented that speaking softly in loud situations it still recognizes commands.

 

[tnesmith]

If I didn't already have a super sound system, I'd be interested.

I haven't trusted Consumer Reports for years.

 

[lordofthereef]

Some fans going crazy when someone says that another devices is subjectively better, relax is not that HomePod is bad. You know what... just buy a HomePod, convince yourself is the best and first of its class device to prove them all wrong! Don't delve in reviews that say that suggest other products may be better.

On a serious note: nobody can tell us which sound is better except ourselves, I suppose they all sound good, but it is an individual choice to say which is better for my ears.

This happens on every one of these new
Product discussion pages. There are at least two posters who I knew would be here retorting to every single negative thing being said about these things and waxing poetic about how wonderful the HomePod is. It's just the way fan pages go lol.

I got to listen to one of these today. I thought it sounded very good. I just don't have a place where I would use one, aside from maybe the bathroom lol.

If we see vast improvements to Siri I'd consider it, because we are really an iOS family, but for now, my $30 google home mini fills that void. That is in the living room, and there's no way an all in one speaker would compete with our sound system, nor is that a fair comparison at all.

I could also see myself potentially buying a used one, depending on how they hold their value. Will be interesting to see, for sure.

 

[naturalstar]

I was in Best Buy earlier and that thing sounded terrible. It was up at a high volume and the distortions were obvious. I’m guessing the store environment is what caused the problem. It wasn’t like it was crowded. Just me, the Apple rep, and a BB blue shirt guy in the area. Guess it needs a much more closed environment.

Either way, it’s not “smart”, so it’s not for me. I have dumb (non-speaking) speakers already that sound great. If it ever gets smart, I’ll give it a closer look.

 

[smirking]

Care to cite them? I haven't seen a single other review (of the sound) that can be classified as either "middling" or negative.

Here are a few. There was one pretty negative one that I saw yesterday, but I can't find it again. I've been seriously considering a HomePod so I've been reading a lot of reviews. They're all over the shop and not just in they either like or don't like HomePod, but sometimes they rank Sonos One the best and Google Max at other times. It's getting to be like reading wine reviews... that all the reviews in the world won't tell you if you'll like it.

David Pogue:
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/head-head-apple-homepod-really-sound-best-160346138.html

Wired:
http://www.wired.co.uk/article/first-listen-apple-homepod

WaPo:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...ings-to-know-before-you-buy-an-apple-homepod/

 

[Mtmspa]

I was watching some music videos on you tube. Flipped the music over to the HomePod and it sounded great. I am sold.

 

[DakotaGuy]

Ok, excuse me, but do better research before just posting your gut.

If you had read the majority of reviews, you will see that though they all praise the sound quality of the HomePod as superior to all others in its class (almost to a man), you’ll ALSO see that they almost all criticize Siri and it’s inabilty to do even basic tasks, like read your calendar, hail an Uber and other things that even the iPhone will do (which clearly Apple kept out of HomePod for their own reasons). You’ll also see them criticize that Siri is simply inferior to Alexa and Google Assistant. You’ll ALSO see them talk about the price being “not worth it”. Only a tiny a fraction of the reviews are positive all around, and even those don’t fail to point out the failings.

So, if these reviewers are “paid off by Apple”, then are they just not understanding at what it means to be paid off, or is there a chance that they are just, I don’t know, doing their job?

Sorry for the sarcasm, but you have GOT to be kidding me. You really think that every single d$&@ review of the HomePod was positive (they weren’t, not even close) because Apple paid them off?

So basically the only way to run this thing is with Siri and Siri is a terrible voice assistant. I guess that’s another reason to purchase a Google Home Max. It seems with Google Home Max you get great sound, similar beam-forming technology, a great voice assistant, multiple choices of music services with voice control, and last it works with iOS and Android. The Max even gives you a 3.5mm connector to hook up a TV or your turntable. With HomePod you have to buy another product to play that stuff.

Unless you are a hard core “It’s gotta have an Apple logo” person the Google Home Max is a much more versatile product. Even if the HomePod might sound slightly better to some people the fact CR thinks the Max sounds better tells me both products are right in the same ballpark for sound quality.

As far as reviewers with pro Apple bias... yes they are all around. When companies give people products to review that does create bias. By the way, CR never said the HomePod sounded bad. They said it sounded very good. They just felt that other products might sound a little better in their tests. If Apple doesn’t like the review they can sue CR. Other companies have tried (but lost) in the past. Maybe Apple will have more luck.

 

[NervousFish2]

Locking down the HomePod away from any third party services isn't just the walled-garden approach - it downright hostile. Imagine if tvOS only worked with iTunes and Apple refused to allow Netflix or Hulu, or if iOS only worked with Apple mail and refused to allow Gmail or Exchange. The same anger would come from Apple fans being forced to choose.

I think this is somewhat common when Apple launch a new device. The iPhone took a long time before third parties could run on it, etc. Siri was the same, but is increasingly open to third parties. Doubtlessly, Apple will keep to form and allow more third party access in time.

 

[Soccertess]

interesting. Not sure I believe it, but I'm not an audiophile.

I think the good thing for consumers is that the audio bar has been risen. Let's hope Apple steps up it's game with Siri.

 

[dwaite]

You can listen to uncompressed music from your iPhone or Mac (Or any Airplay source). You're really not understanding a lot about the product you are spending a lot of time blasting on an Apple rumor site.

44.1 kHz via Apple Lossless.

From the Airplay 2 videos, the HomePod should support 'any platform-supported audio format'. So it supports mp3, aac and apple lossless at 44.1 or 48 kHz (and I know 8 and 16 bit depth)

 

[Machead2012]

Oh my, an Apple product is NOT the best in it‘s class?! This is outrageous, any reviewer who criticizes anything made by Apple is clearly biased, incompetent, and basically a pathological liar.

I don’t even care about CR‘s findings. I’m just embarrassed to be a part of this community when I read all your ignorant and pretentious comments.

The Fanboy, Apple Groupie attack! I have owned nearly all Apple Products since the inception of the Company with the exception of a few including this over priced, limited, over hyped so called smart speaker. I have never found CR reports as being "Creed" but in fairness I never found them to be "liars" as many here are calling them. While the forum can be defensive and outright playground silly at times, a clear thinking person should sometimes look deeper into the marketing strategy that Apple uses in launching their products. Bottom line....it's all about the Benjamins and keeping that stock price rising and the board of directors happy. Feeding the kiddies fun food laced with sugar and high carbs keeps em fat n happy but over defensive and hyper sensitive too. Final analysis - When a product is worthy it blows out the doors and when its not it is scrutinized and relies on slick marketing to make the grade. ex. Home Pod. Time will tell but thus far IMHO CR has its credibility where this review is concerned.

 

[Squuiid]

I’m sure I’ll get flamed for saying this but I’ve been listening to my HomePod for the past couple of days, and I think the novelty is already starting to wear thin. I’m not an audiophile by any means but unless you're playing music at a high volume, the sound quality can be underwhelming depending on type of music youre listening to and the room acoustics. I’ll give it a few more days, but I may end up returning my to Apple. I’m hoping future software updates will improve HomePod, and introduce some new features as well.

Same experience I’ve had. I think a lot of the posters here defending the HomePod haven’t even bought one for themselves.
The sound quality of this thing is meh. It’s really not great.

 

[bopajuice]

Heard one today. The hype and fanboy reviews peaked my curiosity. Man you guys are over the top with this thing. It sounds fine but nothing to argue about for 16 pages, trash other publications over, attack one another over, or claim it's the best thing ever.

My impression is it sounded good, but not $350 good. It's about what I expected. Sounds just as good as my Sonos One, maybe a little bass emphasized, but man you guys and gals are hyping this thing and lifting it to a level that only a true Apple enthusiast could. Well done.

I'm sure the frenzy will eventually subside, panties will be unbunched, and things will get back to normal.

 

[Michael Goff]

Heard one today. The hype and fanboy reviews peaked my curiosity. Man you guys are over the top with this thing. It sounds fine but nothing to argue about for 16 pages, trash other publications over, attack one another over, or claim it's the best thing ever.

My impression is it sounded good, but not $350 good. It's about what I expected. Sounds just as good as my Sonos One, maybe a little bass emphasized, but man you guys and gals are hyping this thing and lifting it to a level that only a true Apple enthusiast could. Well done.

I'm sure the frenzy will eventually subside, panties will be unbunched, and things will get back to normal.

This is MacRumors. We’d attack each other over anything and everything.

 

[Lilok]

Watch this video with this guy doing a blind listening test. When he realizes that he has selected the Google Home Max over the HomePod he quickly tries to change what he meant. It's hilarious!

Wow, I almost didn't watch it since you didn't tell us where it starts (4:30), but it was worth it xD
First he praises Google Max and didn't even say anything nice or worth mentioning while listening to the homepod, then he goes on how he actually ment the hp.
Priceless ^^

 

[BvizioN]

"Consumer Reports doesn't have any idea what it's talking about." - Every response in this thread

Sure they do. They always do. The question is, do I believe them? Not at the slightest. They have shown to me that they can not be trusted. I do believe only my own judgment when I am buying a product of this kind.

 

[CaTOAGU]

Why is it a leap to think that a speaker would perform poorly in the room it was designed in? I never said optimum performance. The argument by people on here is that the test put the HomePod at a disadvantage because it wasn't a regular room. But Apple didn't design or test or calibrate the HomePod in a regular room. They tested it and tuned it in an anechoic chamber.

People here are taking a real leap against this review because they think the speaker was ONLY designed to play in a problematic room and that it can ONLY perform to its best standards in a problematic room. That's an absurd expectation.

I would not believe that a speaker can only perform at it's best when it is making adjustments. If the speaker doesn't have to make any adjustments or minimal adjustments, wouldn't that be preferable? Wouldn't that be the purest, unaltered performance the speaker could give? Everyone assumes that the speaker can only work at it's best IF it's making adjustments. That's a large assumption and kind of a silly one.

UPDATE*

Because it wasn’t designed to be USED in such a room. Anachoic chambers are used to test specific speaker characteristics by isolating them from all acoustic reflections. For example if you need to test it’s frequency response, or in the case of speakers such as these that have there own power supplies and amps how much noise the speaker itself puts out, the results from those tests are used to fine tune software and hardware components. Now maybe CR are correct and inside an anachoic chamber a google home sounds better but no one that will use it in everyday life will be using it in such an environment, because no one lives in an anachoic chamber, we live in rooms almost as far removed as you can get from one. Take the furniture out of an average room and you’ll hear just how acoustically reflective they are. Adding furniture back reduces but nowhere near eliminates those reflections and that’s the environment the HomePod is meant to work with and in. That’s where all these speakers should be tested in a room that matches as closely as posible an average human living room, or office, or bedroom.

* EDIT: Important. It's been pointed out, embarrassingly, that they didn't in fact test in an anechoic chamber. So whilst the content of this post is technically correct, it is, in fact, entirely irrelevant! I'll leave it intact for any residual comedy value it might have

 

[robjulo]

Does David Pogue have an agenda as well?

http://pogueman.tumblr.com/post/170722337727/head-to-head-does-the-apple-homepod-really-sound

which shows the agenda they clearly have against apple.

CR were an embarrassment in their testing of the MacBook Pro. That alone says everything you need to know about them.

 

[lantree]

Best thing anybody can do is go and listen to them in person.
Don't listen to any of reviews.

 

[mi7chy]

CR has more credibility than the Reddit fanboy that Apple love targeting for automatic glowing product reviews.

https://twitter.com/pschiller/status/962883051184275456

 

[bobob]

Literally every review I’ve seen has been super positive. And somehow, anti Apple consumer reports has nothing but bad comments. Shocker.

Consumer Reports isn't so much anti-Apple as it is pro-clickbait.

 

[mi7chy]

So these guys are testing based entirely on subjective perception to the sound, while a reddit audiophile tested using scientific standard and cold hard figures.

Scientific eh?